Mercedes refuses to play 'Russell card' in negotiations with Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton still has no contract for 2021 and it may be some time before it is signed. It has to be sorted out before Bahrain and Toto Wolff does not seem to be bothered yet.

Hamilton has already won his seventh world title, but a seat for 2021 has still not been confirmed. It seems obvious that the Brit will stay with Mercedes, but then why has nothing been announced yet. Wolff points to the fact that Hamilton lives in America, but wants it sorted out before Bahrain.

Wolff is not worried at all. ''We have a strong relationship and we have achieved a lot of success together in the past. We want to continue that and win even more in the future. But sometimes you have to talk about that in detail and that still takes us some time,'' Wolff told ORF.

In those negotiations Wolff never tried to bring the price down with George Russell's performance. ''We never played the George Russell card. He has done a great job and will one day drive a top car, but our long partnership is not meant to be used as a threat. We know we want to continue racing together, but now that contract has yet to come,'' the Mercedes team boss concluded.